resolved Black Squares Appearing in Global Scenery

[Cyrus]

For the past 2 weeks I have been trying to find a solution to the Orbx Global Black Squares issue.

I downloaded Orbx Global and after the installation Black Squares appeared all over the scenery. 

There have been many suggestions on the web to:

1-Disable DirectX10

2-Download Steve Fix etc

As I use multiple monitors, disabling DirectX causes my  monitors to crash specially when undocking gadgets. It also causes my Ground Scenery GSX to malfunction with many services turning transparent. My framerate in FSX is also reduced.

Surely there must be a fix to this. 

No where was there any indication prior to purchase that DIRECTX must be disabled. 

To ask someone who has purchased a new software to go and buy another software such as "Steve Fix" is ridiculous. It is like someone purchasing a new car and then be asked to go to a garage and pay for the transmission to be fixed.

I am using this forum as a last attempt before I uninstall Orbx Global altogether and ask for a refund.

 

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

welcome to the forums.

Thank you for sharing your opinion.

 

Indeed there is a free fix for the FTX lighting which you can find at the Avsim file library, the file name is shader_release_v3.2.3.zip.

 

Any user of the Preview Direct X 10 mode in FSX would be well advised to purchase the Direct X 10 Fixer ("Steve Fix")

and Steve Parsons' Cloud Shadow extension to it but it is not required if one is prepared to overlook the 

anomalies left by the unfinished development of FSX by the Microsoft Aces team.

The anomalies are by no means limited to the inability to correctly display the FTX lighting and most users are pleased to see

VC shadows  and cloud shadows.

 

There has been a pinned topic on this subject for some time, created in response to the large number of times that this question has been asked.

 

 

 

 

[Jethro VH-JET]

Sure there are many benefits to running FSX in DX10 mode but it requires the fixer to make the technology fully functional and complete. Eyecandy and added performance from DX10 are just part of the story.

 

The analogy does not work.

 

The PreviewDX10 option that was only included in FSX SP2 Acceleration as a Preview of what DX10 could do in FSX, unfinished before ACES disbanded. It was not a viable option until Steve Parsons began work on his DX10 fixer. But the FTXGlobal + Global lights, do however work perfectly well in DX9 and DX10 with the Steves DX10 fixer.

The only options are DX9 (Default) & tailor your settings to accommodate sim load. Or the Free DX10 Fixer or Payware DX10 Fixer with additional features to eliminate the black squares.  Essentially the Global product is fully functional and only poses an issue to those running PreviewDX10 without the fixer in any form.

 

refund! best of luck

[Cyrus]

Thank you for your comments and replies.

I understand the issues Orbx has with DirectX10. But there are a number of people out there who are using it without any issues. Had I known this prior to installing Orbx, I would not have purchased it as it affects many of my FSX functionalities. If all other programs work well with DirectX and Orbx has an issue, I do not understand why I have to purchase another software to fix the original. 

Now I don't know whether to get Sgader Release V2 as suggested by Nick or try to fix the issue with Steve's Fixer. I am just worried it might mess things even more. But I will try the options suggested but am not willing to uncheck my DirectX in FSX settings.

Is there any other way to switch from DirectX10 to DirectX9 please advise. I would appreciate it.

Many Many thanks for all your comments

Cyrus

[Jethro VH-JET]

Hello Cyrus,

 

The problem lies not with Orbx, but with FSX Microsoft's incomplete FSX/DX10 technology, It would have been completed had MS left the ACES guys to implement the tech as a fully working option. As it stands "Preview" means exactly that. Until Steve P completed the work in recent years.

I doubt very much that there are users without issues using the basic Preview DX10 without the fixer, even with default FSX scenery there will be inherent graphical anomalies. Add an aircraft or 2 ported from FS9 and you will see untextured white aircraft,  add some High res scenery and airfields and you are bound to see such things as graphic spikes, flashing flickering runways/taxiway junctions, FSX splash screen image displayed in the sky when resources are overtaxed, along with numerous other issues.

 

The DX10 Fixer in either Free or Payware is the way to go. There will always be a tradoff where some enhancement tools and programs are incompatible, but with the fixer installed at least you have most of FSX / DX10's problems fixed.
 

If you go to your FSX.cfg  Open it with MS notepad.  located in C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX 
find -  [GRAPHICS]  D3D10=1  this is the enable switch for Preview DX10 entry.  If you change this to D3D10=0  the Preview DX10 checkbox will be unchecked when FSX is started. Make your edit then close the config and save on exit. 
You will then be using DX9 mode on Sim restart. Changing back to =1 logically reverses the switch. You cannot make changes in the FSX.cfg whilst FSX is running. If making manual alterations the sim must not be running.
  
There is no harm switching between the 2 Modes, either manually in the FSX.cfg or by checking and unchecking the Preview DX10 box in FSX. The benefit of the manual method is that it does not require you to restart your sim as it does when checking and unchecking the box, and there are no other settings altered such as TML & LOD_Radius   with the manual process, unlike when doing so in the FSX settings panels.

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

I must agree with Jeff.

I have been using FSX in the Preview Direct X 10 mode since it was first published in FSX SP2

and I had a Direct X 10 capable graphics card.

There are universal anomalies as Jeff has described when that mode is used without any kind of correction

and there is no one "out there" who without a fix has none.

 

You appear to have some misconceptions about the fixes which have been carefully prepared by a man

who is an expert in his field and who was kind enough to allow the FTX lighting fix to be freeware.

If you visit the Avsim library, you will see that the file that corrects the FTX lighting has been downloaded

just over 23,000 times. The original freeware Direct X 10 fix, 50,592 times.

You will also see that the files are from 2012 and 2014 respectively, so they are neither new nor untested,

as your comment suggests that you might think that they are.

These are extraordinary numbers for a flightsim community and should indicate to you the value and

effect of the results.

 

I have no idea what the sales figures for the payware Direct X 10 Fixer are but I have used it with complete

success since the day it was released and the Cloud shadows too.

 

 

 

 

 

[Cyrus]

Dear Nick

Many thanks for your prompt reply and suggestions. I have taken your advice and have downloaded shader_release_v3.2.3.zip.

I will certainly give it a try if I can figure out how to install it. I currently have quite a lot of components including GoFlight etc connected for use with FSX and my worry is that trying to solve one issue may cause problems with the other software and components which at present are all working fine except for Orbx.

I have no doubt that Steve has done a great job trying to fix this.

If Orbx has been aware of this BLACK BOX issue then surely the option to solve this problem should be handled by Orbx with a fix or patch included in the software. I should not be purchasing a product and going somewhere else to find a fix. 

[Nick Cooper]

Hello again,

 

The FTX lighting is autogen and in the Preview Direct X 10 mode, FSX cannot display

it correctly.

If you take the view that the Direct X 10 option in FSX is broken, as indeed it is, it should be no

surprise that it cannot do certain things correctly.

 

It is no accident that the Direct X 10 mode is called a preview and also no accident that when

it is repaired by either the freeware or payware fix, the lighting does what it should.

[Cyrus]

Hi Nick

I will go and download Steve's paid copy tonight. I have already spent 4 days trying to find a solution to the Black Boxes in Orbx. That's all I need to fix. Everything else is working fine under the current DirectX10 even though many state that it was incomplete and Microsoft did not complete the process. I have never had an issue with it until now. Nevertheless let me thank you for your good advice and if I am at all successful in getting rid of the Black Boxes, you can be assured that following your good support, I will Orbx's customer for life.

Thank You

[Stewart Hobson]

10 minutes ago, Cyrus said:

Hi Nick

I will go and download Steve's paid copy tonight. I have already spent 4 days trying to find a solution to the Black Boxes in Orbx. That's all I need to fix. Everything else is working fine under the current DirectX10 even though many state that it was incomplete and Microsoft did not complete the process. I have never had an issue with it until now. Nevertheless let me thank you for your good advice and if I am at all successful in getting rid of the Black Boxes, you can be assured that following your good support, I will Orbx's customer for life.

Thank You

May I add that you will not be disappointed.  However, reserve the time to read the manual completely and thoroughly as you go about configuring the Fixer.  It will be worth the effort.

[Cyrus]

Thank You Stewart

Just looked at the download manual of Steve's FSX10 Fix. It is rather complicated. I am just worried it may make a mess of the entire system which has taken me months to set up.

Thank You

[Nick Cooper]

Hello again,

If you simply install the Direct X 10 Fixer, you will not make a mess of anything

and virtually every change that it makes is reversible in any case.

[Stewart Hobson]

It's actually not complicated at all if you follow his instructions step-by-step and not try settings he doesn't recommend.  If you mess something up, you can always start from the beginning.  Remember you are tweaking shaders and the like, which will not affect the rest of your system.  Also note that there is a DX10 subforum under the Tips and Tricks forum which will be a great help.

[Cyrus]

Thank you so much for your encouragement. I will certainly take your advice.

Thanks

 

[Chris.D]

I see Cyrus is worried about "Messing up his system" by the installation of new software into the Flight Sim.  And over the years, 32 years I have been doing this, I found out the hard way.  The way out of this is to backup your Operating system and your Flight Sim folders.  If it all goes wrong, as sometimes it does, just do a restore from your backup files.

I saw in another thread above that 'He' should not have to be a computer tech to get these things to work.  Unfortunately, the Flight Sim programs are probably the most complex piece of software that will ever be run on a home computer, and you really have to know what is going on on the inside of the box to get all the bits of software to work together.

On the other hand, ORBX has made the installation of their software relatively trouble free., but start mixing other software into the Sim and you can expect trouble, going by the number of posts on the many Sim forums. 

So, if you are not computer savvy, you have to backup your computer if you think you have your FlightSim running to perfection before you make any changes.

Commercial software is available.  I can do a complete restore of my flightsim in under 10 minutes.  Saves weeks of work doing a complete manual reinstall of everything.

Hopes this helps and saves a bucket of tears !

Chris.

[Cyrus]

Thank You Chris

I am running FSX on imac using bootcamp. Everything works well. I have a range of Goflight and Saitek devices attached with numerous software. Touch wood no major problem yet. Having had issues with Orbx Global and the black boxes, I tried to do a complete backup of Windows but as it is running on bootcamp this proved virtually impossible even though I downloaded a software called Winclone which was useless.

I took the risk and installed Steve's DirectX fix this evening and I am glad to say it worked. I still have to do a number of tweeks to FSX but touch wood all is good now.

Is there a solution to bootcamp backup?

Thanks

Cyrus

[Cyrus]

May I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to NICK....JEFF....and STEWART for their advice and encouragement to solve the problem with the Black Squares appearing in Orbx Global. 

I am pleased to say that with their encouragement and support I downloaded Steve's Fix and everything is working better than it did before. I am sorry to have doubted Steve's program. He has done a wonderful job.

Thanks to NICK....JEFF....and STEWART, I can sleep early tonight having spent at least 18 hours in the last few days to resolve this problem

Thank you Guys.

Cyrus

[Stewart Hobson]

Good job!  Glad everything is working to your satisfaction.  The Fixer makes running FSX much better than running under DX9.

[Jethro VH-JET]

Our pleasure Cyrus, glad you are happy with the results. Can't have people loosing sleep, unless they just can't tear themselves away from a spectacular flight.

[Cyrus]

Thank you Jeff.... Thank You Stewart

I slept well last night again thanks to your support.

Best Wishes

Cyrus